Bloopie: The Gelfilte Fish that Got Away

Lee Schwimmer

2020

ARTIST STATEMENT

My dear friend, Ashi, grew up in Israel captivated by the old-world European ways of kitchens where mother, aunts and grandmothers filled the apartment with the scents of fresh herbs and produce from the open-air markets where they shopped. Preparing big holiday meals in small kitchen meant making do. Fresh fish came home from the souk and swam around in the water-filled family bathtub until it was time to make gefilte fish from scratch. But what does a little boy know of the impending fate of fish that had quickly become pets with names like Bloopie and Ploopie. Standing in my modern Southern California kitchen we chop celery and carrots and tell stories. He laughs a bit wistfully as he recounts an early childhood lesson: Don’t bother naming the fish in the bathtub. Inspired by his storytelling and with an eye to turn wistful in whimsy, this piece is titled Bloopie: the Gelfilte Fish That Got Away.